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Sprint's Vice President of Product Realization David Owens recently made some comments that weren't too flatering towards WP7 (http://www.wpcentral.com/sprint-not-...windows-phones). As part of this, he indicated that the Arrive has resulted in a bad user experience for Sprint Customers and as a result Sprint will not be carrying in new WP7 devices in the near future.

Needless to say, this has some folks in an uproar. Especially considering that the Arrive is one of the highest customer rated devices available on Sprint. So, in order to help convince Sprint to take a new stance on WP7, a petition has been started.

If you would like to see Sprint add additional Windows Phone 7 devices, please sign the petition. Customer feedback usually has a way of making companies rethink some of their decisions.

Sprint will start to carry more WP7 phones once sales indicate its moving. There's a battle between RIM & Microsoft on who will be the #3 OS. RIM keeps shooting itself in the foot and for all the critical acclaim you here about WP7, it hasn't translated to an overwhelming acceptance by the public (sorta like webOS).

I've tried WP7 on the Arrive and I'm intrigued by it. It's smooth and seemless like iOS but I don't care for the tiles or lack of changing/customizing the screens (Android has spoiled me in that regard). However, it has a good chance of success if Microsoft, the carriers and OEM's get behind it. Then it may reach critical mass with consumers and sales will begin to drive its success. Otherwise it will die a long painful death like webOS and perhaps RIM.

Since Sprint signed a mega-commitment with Apple for iPhones, so large that many think Sprint may end up defaulting on, Sprint really wants its customers to buy iPhones. Now I'm sure Sprint also doesn't want to lose customers over this either. But otherwise, and certainly with all things slightly equal, Sprint would then much prefer you buy iPhones.

That, coupled with the very unimpressive up take of WP7... well you can understand. Although Sprint's handling of the matter is a bit of a fumble... doesn't win any friends with anybody at all, not customers, not MS, not handset manufs, nobody...

But we live in a crazy world where MS makes FAR more money off of Android than WP7... at some point, it will only be ego/pride that causes them to continue with WP...

LAS VEGAS--The buzz around Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone has been palpable here at the Consumer Electronics Show. The platform received a glowing appraisal in the New York Times shortly before the show started and is even getting meta-buzz from Wired. One financial analyst estimates Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Microsoft's strategic partner, could sell 37 million Windows Phones this year.
The key challenge for both Microsoft and Nokia is to turn this buzz around devices like Nokia's Lumia 710 for T-Mobile and the Lumia 900 for AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) into concrete sales. It's an enormous task, and the companies know it. But without a sustained marketing push, the platform will flounder and with it Nokia's hopes for a smartphone future. It's not as much about building up the platform as it is about sales and execution.

I believe the executives involved understand the challenges they face. Chris Weber, Nokia's president of North America, told me that the two things that keep him up at night are how the company will make consumers understand that it has a unique and differentiated product and how it will execute on the retail level. Weber said a key message is that Windows Phone is trying to be a happy medium between Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS.

"I think what Windows is trying to do is take the best of both of those worlds," he said. "A highly curated controlled environment with iPhone, and the ability to do anything you want on the other end with Android. We think there's a place in between. And I think it's about a seamless integrated experience."
I think it's a potentially strong sales pitch, but it's also difficult to distill down to 30 seconds. Microsoft and Nokia need to crack that marketing message if they want to succeed, and then deliver it through multiple channels (and hopefully with a growing list of carriers).
Windows Phone evangelists, from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Nokia CEO Stephen Elop like to argue that Windows Phone, with its live tiles and hubs, breaks though the sea of applications on Android and iOS devices. But one big problem is that a lot of people have become accustomed to experiencing a smartphone that way and seem to enjoy it. The key issue is raising awareness of why Windows Phone is different and why that's important.
Aaron Woodman, director of Microsoft's mobile communication business, told me it is not just an awareness issue. He said the company needs to focus on four things: building a quality product ("People will forgive us for not selling billions and billions of phones, but nobody will forgive us for building a sub-par product," he said); finding a way to have carriers and handset makers work together to push the platform at the retail level; conducting better marketing; and leveraging the power of Windows as a brand to make it relevant in phones by making Windows Phone more familiar, something the company will try to do as it pushes Windows 8, which uses the same Metro UI as the mobile platform.

It's an interlocking set of challenges, and nobody at Microsoft or Nokia is under any illusions about what lies ahead. I'm glad--finally--that Windows Phone is getting LTE. I'm glad that Nokia seems to be getting U.S. carrier support that will be sustained. Woodman said that Nokia's devices will be devices people will aspire to buy, and that will help the platform and other Windows Phone licensees as a whole.
I hope they succeed, because I think that there are lots of people outside of Apple and Google that would like to see a strong third platform emerge (while we all wait for Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry 10 to arrive.) But no one should kid themselves about the challenges Microsoft and Nokia face with breaking through on Windows Phone. --Phil

However, I do see a spike in demand for Windows Phones after Windows 8 drops, and Metro UI becomes the norm on PC's, tablets, and even Xbox. That familiarity will extend to phones, making the adoption of Metro UI less jarring.

Though, the only Windows Phone I want is the Nokia Lumia 900...or Greater.

I'm switching to AT&T as soon as the Lumia 900 comes out. I have two lines with sprint right now and would only have to pay the ETF for one of them and I don't mind doing so for more choice, a faster network, and a company that isn't trying so hard to be different that it makes questionable choices (WiMax, $20,000,000,000 for a phone with a 4 1/2 year old UI). I've been with Sprint for over 10 years and was willing to stay with the carrier after they terminated the early upgrade incentive for Premier customers but with the lack of phones to choose from, paying an extra $10 for the same lousy data and the whole LightSquared debacle, I'd rather pay more elsewhere. I've sat back while they've made bad decisions over and over again but now I realize that they're just going to get swallowed up by Verizon or AT&T anyway.

I'm switching to AT&T as soon as the Lumia 900 comes out. I have two lines with sprint right now and would only have to pay the ETF for one of them and I don't mind doing so for more choice, a faster network, and a company that isn't trying so hard to be different that it makes questionable choices (WiMax, $20,000,000,000 for a phone with a 4 1/2 year old UI). I've been with Sprint for over 10 years and was willing to stay with the carrier after they terminated the early upgrade incentive for Premier customers but with the lack of phones to choose from, paying an extra $10 for the same lousy data and the whole LightSquared debacle, I'd rather pay more elsewhere. I've sat back while they've made bad decisions over and over again but now I realize that they're just going to get swallowed up by Verizon or AT&T anyway.

Sprint does have options, it just doesn't have that lumnia you want so badly, so you'll pay an eft to get that phone. Just wait, Windows needs more time to catch on.

Or use the reasons you cited to justify your impulse of moving to another carrier for a phone.

At the local Windows store I played with a Samsung (Focus?), the Windows 7 version of the Epic Touch 4G and was very impressed. Sadly it is only on AT & T. I actually liked it better than my Epic Touch 4G

This thread just proves that Sprint cannot make every niche demographic happy. And they know it. So they aren't going to spend millions chasing these people. They've got bigger fish to fry at the moment.

That may well be true but in playing with the phone I was stuck with the realization of a couple of faults of the both the industry and Samsung and Android. First there are way too many hand helds on the market. Most are crappy phones rushed out without enough testing. Second Samsung sees cell phones as just another electronic device and almost all support stops with purchase. This is why you see such a delay in upgrades on Samsung units. It is not what they are interested in. With Apple and Windows 7 phones upgrades will be pushed down on a regular basis. So in short I am more tempted to purchase the Windows 7 version of the Galaxy SII because it would be upgraded more often than the Android version.

That may well be true but in playing with the phone I was stuck with the realization of a couple of faults of the both the industry and Samsung and Android. First there are way too many hand helds on the market. Most are crappy phones rushed out without enough testing. Second Samsung sees cell phones as just another electronic device and almost all support stops with purchase. This is why you see such a delay in upgrades on Samsung units. It is not what they are interested in. With Apple and Windows 7 phones upgrades will be pushed down on a regular basis. So in short I am more tempted to purchase the Windows 7 version of the Galaxy SII because it would be upgraded more often than the Android version.